


In Certain Seasons, To Hunt Enemies

by emperors_girl



Series: The War of the Blossom [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Or Is It?, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5838424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emperors_girl/pseuds/emperors_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he gets closer, Poe recognizes him as the cute Stormtrooper from lunch period. He hasn’t seen him around in a while, not since the last big First Order brawl two days ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Certain Seasons, To Hunt Enemies

Poe doesn’t mean to get himself captured by the First Order. Obviously. But he can’t not intervene, not when they’re about to shoot Lor San Tekka, not when that’s all Poe’s fault. He practically led them here, broke through their blockade and pointed them in the exact right fucking direction.

He’s not stupid though, even at his worst, so Poe hands over the map to BB-8 before he throws himself into this mess. He’s too late, anyway, and Lor San Tekka is dead even before Poe takes his first shot. It’s like a physical blow, seeing that murder go down, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it. There’s more of them than there is of him, and these Stormtroopers know how to swarm a guy, if nothing else.

They’ve got him on his knees in a blink. One of them brings his blaster down against the back of Poe’s head and it makes him see stars. There’s someone standing over him, he thinks, someone in a dark hood that makes the very air Poe’s breathing seem colder.

And when he looks up, it’s Kylo Ren there, standing above him. Of course it fucking is, of course it would be. It’s Kylo Ren, and he’s not the kid Poe used to play with, not the kid he remembers at all. Whoever this guy is in front of him, it’s not the same kid whose mother still looks at Poe and actually _sees_ him. No, this guy is someone different now, and he ain’t never gonna get what Poe’s got, not ever.

“You gonna say something or you gonna just stare at me?” Poe asks as Kylo Ren reaches down to grab him. He says it like he’s not scared, because he’s not. There’s nothing Kylo Ren can do to him that will make him give up the map. He’s faced down Stormtroopers and battleships, he’s stared into the void of space and braved the terrors in the dark. He’ll not be intimidated by this wanna-be and his lackeys, even if they do have blasters and Kylo Ren’s hand is around Poe’s throat. “Come on, say something. Unless you want me to. I could say something, I got lots to say.”

There’s actually no talking, not just then. Instead, Kylo Ren just punches Poe in the face.

Poe barely has time to recover from that, to blink away the tears from being hit so close to his nose. Then he’s got three more Stormtroopers on him, pushing him down til he’s flat on his bank and making like he’s really gonna regret mouthing off. They barely get a kick each, though, before Kylo Ren is calling them off.

“Enough,” he says tonelessly. “There’ll be time for that later. We need him functioning. For now.”

The Stormtroopers obviously don’t want to let up. One of them adds a final extra kick that sends a burning pain through Poe’s ribs, but he breathes through it. “Good job,” he manages to rasp out when he’s got his breath back, and he winks. The guy’s eyes narrow and makes an aborted motion like he wants to start up the pummeling again, but a look at Kylo Ren convinces him otherwise, so he stays where he is.

“Tell me,” Kylo Ren says slowly and clearly, and his voice is dark in a way that makes Poe shiver. He’s suddenly, infinitely glad, that he doesn’t have the map, that he left it with BB-8. Poe can barely feel his face, but he can’t give up what he doesn’t have.

“The Resistance will not be intimidated,” he says.

“There is no Resistance here, Poe Dameron, only you and I.”

One of the Stormtroopers grabs Poe under his arms and hoists him back up onto his knees, where he’s in the reach of Kylo Ren’s grip. “Tell me,” Kylo Ren says, hand tightening once again on Poe’s throat. “Tell me.”

Poe swore he wouldn’t, and he won’t. He can’t let the Resistance down. This is bigger than him, bigger than this moment. He won’t, he can’t.

Kylo Ren’s thumb pushes against Poe’s windpipe and his head starts to pound. The light starts to grey out.

“Tell me.”

Poe tells him.

 

Poe's on the ground again, blinking away the dark spots at the edge of his vision and gasping for air. Kylo Ren is gone, went to retrieve the map from BB-8 probably and then destroy all of the hopes of the Resistance. The Stormtroopers are mostly following after him, except for one, the one Poe winked at. That one’s closing in again, eyes gleaming with anger, and for a second Poe doesn’t care. He’s failed in his mission. He’s let the Resistance down. Let this guy kick the snot out of him, what does Poe care?

“Hey!” a voice shouts suddenly, and Poe and the Stormtrooper both jerk their heads around at the sound. There’s a kid running toward them, looking rushed and scared, but also determined. As he gets closer, Poe recognizes him as the cute Stormtrooper from lunch period. He hasn’t seen him around in a while, not since the last big First Order brawl two days ago.

“Hey,” he says again, and this time it becomes he clear he’s talking to the other trooper, the one guarding Poe. “Kylo Ren wants you with him right now, man. He’s asking for you specifically.

The guy’s eyes go wide, and he looks like he can’t decide if he should be nervous or excited. “Me?” he asks.

“Yeah, you! You better go, you know he doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Go, quick!”

When the guy still hesitates, looking down at Poe with uncertainty, the new trooper says, “Now!” in a voice that sets the guy off running in the opposite direction, the one Kylo Ren stormed off in.

When he’s gone and out of sight around the corner of the gym, the trooper left behind lets out a sigh and relaxes, like all the tension’s draining out of him.

“You okay?” he asks, and his eyes are soft, almost worried.

“I’ve had worse,” Poe tells him, and he _has_. He brings his hand up to his nose to wipe it with his sleeve. There’s blood smeared down his arm when he pulls it back, but what the hell, that’ll just make this jacket more badass. “What’s going on?”

It doesn’t seem like this is the usual way Kylo Ren does things, and this guy, this trooper, he seems different. He’s always seemed different, and that’s why Poe likes him.

An idea strikes him suddenly, a way to make sense of all this. “Are you with the Resistance? Did Jess send you?” She might have done, Poe wouldn’t put it past her. She was worried from the start about him taking this mission alone.

“What? No. It was a rescue,” the Stormtrooper says. “That guy was going to beat you up! I just _rescued_ you.”

“Yeah, I can see that, and I appreciate it, buddy, believe me, but _why_?” 

Poe’s not too particular on the why, to be honest, but he is curious. This guy was definitely one of Kylo Ren’s crowd last week, and Poe’s never seen one of Kylo Ren’s guys turn on him before.

The guy’s lips go tight and he looks so serious, almost nervous. “It was the right thing to do.”

Poe grins, because yeah-fucking-right. This guy’s cute, but he’s not a saint and he’s not suicidal. “Let me guess, you need a ride home, right?”

And for this shit, Poe’ll definitely give him one. This kid is obviously in some kind of trouble with Kylo Ren, can’t catch a ride with those guys or walk home on his own for fear of getting jumped by them. He needs backup, is what it is. Well, Poe knows that story, and guys like them have gotta stick together. 

The guy smiles back at Poe, looking a little lost, a little embarrassed. “I need a ride,” he agrees.

“Well, lucky for you then, I passed my driver’s test with flying colors.” He doesn’t say he’s gonna be the best pilot in the world, but he really, really wants to. There’ll be time for that later, though, hopefully around the time Poe gets to show him his awesome treehouse.

He starts to stand, and is somewhat surprised and, alright, a little bit flattered, when the guy reaches a hand down to help him up. Poe takes the hand and pulls himself upright.

“Finn, right?” he asks when they’re standing toe to toe. He thinks he’s heard that name around, or something close enough like that anyway.

The kid’s eyes widen. “Uh, that, yeah, that is, um…” He clears his throat and looks away slightly, dark stain of a blush just barely becoming visible. “Yeah, you can call me that. Finn. That could be my name. I like that!”

“Cool. Nice to meet you, Finn. I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.”

“Nice to meet you, Poe,” Finn says. His eyes flick down to their hands, which are still clasped, but he doesn’t make a move to pull back.  
They stand there for a long moment, kind of holding hands, until Poe realizes they’re wasting time, and BB-8 is in danger.

“Let’s do this, then, buddy.”

“Yeah, let’s get outta here,” Finn agrees, and Poe realizes abruptly that he hasn’t told him the whole plan. He almost wishes they could just get out of here. They could just go back to Poe’s place and maybe make out a little bit before his grandfather gets home. But more important things are at stake here. There’s a bigger picture than just the two of them.

“We can’t,” he says, dropping Finn’s hand and taking a step back. “We can’t just leave. We gotta go back to the school.”

“What, are you kidding?” Finn asks, voice rising into half a shout. “We can’t go back there! Are you crazy? We just barely got away as it is! We can’t go back, what if they’re waiting for us?”

“I’ve gotta get my droid,” Poe tells him, and sticks his chin out, daring Finn to call him on that.

“Your dr- your droid?” It takes him a second of confused blinking, but he actually puts it together faster than Poe would have thought. “You mean that Roomba with the thumb drive tied to it?”

He’s smart, this cute Stormtrooper, and it makes Poe’s mouth dry, but now’s not the time.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Man, can’t you just get it tomorrow?”

Poe shakes his head, and it only hurts a bit to do it, so he guesses he’s pretty well recovered from that beating he’d nearly taken. “Sorry, can’t. That little droid’s important. He’s got something in his memory banks. It’s vital to the Resistance. I’ve gotta get it before Kylo Ren does or that’s it, end game.”

Finn sighs, but then he glances over Poe’s shoulder and swallows hard. “Fine,” he says, “Let’s go! Hurry!”

“Yeah,” Poe agrees, “let’s make it quick. The sooner we rescue BB-8, the better. We can’t let Kylo Ren get his hands on that map.”

“Uh huh,” Finn says, and his eyes are still behind Poe, tracking something there. “Yeah, not just that. Looks like they’re coming back!”

Poe barely has time to jerk his head around and see the mob of Stormtroopers heading their direction before he feels Finn grab his hand and yank.

“Come on!” Finn yells, “Let’s go!”

Hand-in-hand, they run for it, back toward the school. Back to BB-8 and the map to Luke Skywalker.


End file.
